


The world's a stage

by pengukat



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: AU, Acting, F/F, Like seriously this isn't RPF, Not RPF at all, Not-RPF, Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 22:58:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15011264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pengukat/pseuds/pengukat
Summary: Eve is blown away by the young actress that comes to audition opposite her.





	The world's a stage

**Author's Note:**

> In which I should be writing up a climactic scene of another fic that I've been wanting to push out since ever since its freaking conception but instead I wrote THIS?!?

Eve hadn't known what to expect from the tall, chilly, flaxen-haired actress that had sauntered into the audition room. She had been quiet, of few words, the sort of woman who only used the bare minimum of words necessary and made them count; her movements were slight but thoughtful, and she moved quickly and deliberately. Of course, she was blindingly gorgeous, with glowing skin and keen cheekbones, legs that went on forever, and the hint of a smile that was barely on the right side of friendly.

But Eve had been too preoccupied with the weight on her shoulders and the need to find someone absolutely perfect to pay too much attention to her first impression of the woman. The play was set to open for the upcoming subscriber season, and it was the first time they had ever cast a non-white actress - an Asian-American - in the play's leading actress role. There was a lot riding on this production - no, more accurately, there was a lot riding on her. Failure wasn't an option, not for her, not for what she was representing and what she believed in, and not for anyone else she was counting on to help her succeed. 

Acting was Eve's life - not the accolades nor the attention, but the work and the craft and the preparation, and this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and for someone like her, someone who looked like her, these opportunities didn't come around often. She'd worked long and hard for this break and it wasn't going to come again.

So when the woman came into the audition room, Eve had just handed her the scene, asked her to scan it quickly, and let her know when she was ready. Eve hadn't dwelt on how she looked, and how she moved, and how she smelled. That came later.

First they did the scene.

And everything came alive.

Eve fell in love. It was love at first sight. 

The woman was ... in a word, breathtaking. She was animated, energetic, hungry, and hilarious all at once, fully embodying the character and wearing it like a second skin. If Eve didn't know better, she would have thought that the woman had sprung to life off the written page, fully-formed. 

"Let's try another scene," Eve suggested, and then Eve knew better, because now the woman was soulful, despairing, tormented, and so different, yet still the same character in all the important ways. In the space of moments, the woman had grasped and intuited the character with the ease of a stroll through the park. 

And they tried another, and another. 

And the woman listened! She gave space to Eve, and responded both fascinatingly and unexpectedly, and they pushed and pulled each other, and they danced through a good part of the play together, going places that felt so right and yet Eve hadn't predicted. When Eve leapt, the woman was there to catch her. And vice versa. 

The woman was so good that Eve knew if they were cast opposite each other, the woman would surely upstage her and run away with the show, she was THAT good. The thought was exhilarating and humbling and delightful. This woman belonged on the stage, any stage, and Eve wanted nothing more than to share the stage with her. 

Eve was having the time of her life.

"Who are you, even?" Eve laughed when they were done. She felt a twinge of regret that they had to wrap up, and it was only then that Eve noticed they had gone way over schedule. The next actress who was supposed to show up hadn't, apparently, which thankfully had worked out for the best. "I mean seriously, who are you? Why have I never seen you at any auditions around here? Are you new in town?"

"You could say that." Her voice was lyrical, musical. Her accent had been pitch-perfect but slightly off to Eve's ears, and Eve had told that she was not a native American English speaker. Gosh, this woman was really born to be on the stage. She was curious and eager to have the woman try the whole thing again with Eve in her native accent. "I'm just passing through."

"Aren't we all." Eve laughed. "You're staying if you get the part, though, right? Because I don't have final say, but I have a lot of say, and if I had my say, it's yours." 

The woman hesitated. "I came on a whim. I didn't expect to get the part."

"Wait, seriously? You just showed up at an audition, for my play, and blew my socks off, just for fun?" Eve felt a twinge of professional jealousy - that something she was working so hard for and that the other woman was so perfect for had just been a mere whim. But the rest of her was simply too giddy at her luck of this precious gem showing up on her doorstep to care. "Who's your agent? You should fire them, because they're clearly not matching you with the right roles. What's your background? Where did you train? How much stage experience have you had?" 

The woman looked slightly taken aback. "I, ah, I actually have never acted before. Or studied acting. This is my first time."

Eve's lips formed the shape for the letter W as she forced the word out. "Wh-wh-what? You're joking with me. I mean, I love an inexperienced ingenue origin story as much as the next person, but that is completely unbelievable."

"It's the truth."

"You are way too good to be a first-timer at this." Eve shook her head in wonder. "What's your name?"

The woman hesitated before giving it. "Villanelle."

"Just Villanelle? Like a stage name?"

"Sort of." The woman shrugged. "Yes."

"Okay, then, Vil-la-nelle, please consider sticking around, because you are so good at this, and I am completely in love with you, and I really want to act with you. It would literally be the biggest honour in my life to act with you. Please? Think about it?"

Villanelle actually looked surprised, her lower lip parting and trembling slightly. If she was still acting at this point, she was so, SO, good. "I ... I honestly never thought about it before." 

"Well, tell me you're in town for a few more days at least. I'm going to talk to the director, and I'll get in touch with you if I have any news, if you're still around and haven't changed your mind yet. They have all your paperwork at the front, right? With your headshot and your CV and your contact information?"

Villanelle hesitated again. "No, I ... I don't have any of that."

Eve's jaw dropped. "Wait, run this by me again. You just showed up, without any formal training or acting experience, without a CV, and they let you in here?"

"Well, no one stopped me," Villanelle shrugged. 

Eve burst out laughing, clinging to her her sides. "Oh my god, how did I get so lucky? Please, please, please keep my lucky streak going. Promise you'll stick around, okay? Where are you staying?"  

"Nowhere." Villanelle ran a hand through her hair. "You know. Passing through and all." 

It took Eve all of two seconds to decide. "Well, you can stay with me then! It's nothing fancy, but you can crash on my couch for as long as you need! Or as long as it takes for me to convince you to take the part!" 

"I couldn't - I couldn't impose -"

"Nonsense," Eve waved airily. "You'd be doing me a favour, really. Thank me by agreeing to take the part. I mean, if you get it. No promises, yet, and I'll be so sorry if you don't, but in all seriousness if you don't get it, I might not want to do it anymore. I'll quit in protest." 

Now Villanelle smiled. "You don't have to do that. But thank you. That's a very nice thing - that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Eve almost felt like squinting and covering her eyes, Villanelle's smile was that dazzling. "Well, get used to it, because there's more of that where it came from. I don't think I can stop talking about how awesome you are!" 

Eve's enthusiasm must have been infectious because Villanelle started laughing as well, and Eve suddenly felt a small part of her heart crack open, like she was falling in love for real. 

Eve shook her head. Had to stay professional.

"Okay, let's get some information down for you and everything so we can get started." Eve moved for the door and Villanelle followed. "I'll see if I can introduce you to our director - that's Frank, he's an absolute knob, but he should know talent when he sees it - and there are probably a few of the cast and crew around today, I'll show you to everyone - oh, I can't wait, everyone's going to love you - wait, first I need to grab a croissant, I'm starving - you want one too? Okay, we are going to be such good friends."

Later that week, Eve would find out the originally scheduled actress was discovered sadly murdered in an alleyway, before she had managed to make it to her audition. It was a crying shame, and very tragic, but Eve didn't really dwell on it, because she didn't really know the other person, and this sort of thing tended to happen in large cities.

And anyway, she was too excited at the possibilities that lay ahead. Eve had found the perfect dance partner in Villanelle. And with any luck, Eve would be able to keep up.

**Author's Note:**

> Jodie flew from England to LA, we laid it down, and immediately, I felt like we could both feel, “Oh, this is my dance partner.” It’s a very mysterious thing that a lot of times is reduced to the word ‘chemistry,’ but it is kind of like a sense of being with your partner. Mostly, it has to do with how well you listen to each other, how vulnerable you can be with the other, and how much you can actually hold the other partner. You let them go as far as they need to go, and you will always be there to match them, to be there for them. I absolutely feel that with Jodie, and I hope she feels that with me.  
> \- Sandra Oh, June 2018
> 
> This isn't RPF NOT AT ALL
> 
> (seriously I tried really hard to not make it RPF even though NOPE IT'S NOT)
> 
> (I don't have anything against people writing and enjoying RPF, just that there are certain aspects of blurring the line between character and real persons that make me a bit uncomfortable, SO THIS IS NOT RPF, I JUST HAVE TO KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT)


End file.
